197 days
by BonneyQ
Summary: Gray returns to the house he shared with Juvia with an explanation about where he had been for the past 197 days, but it doesn't mean Juvia will just accept it. [Spoilers of 430]


**AN:** Well,I just had to write about it and people seemed to want Juvia getting angry at Gray as well. So, here we go!

**#**

**197 Days**

**#**

Gray stared at every corner of the house he shared with Juvia for almost seven months and he noticed that almost everything was as he left; he could even see his clothes neatly hanging where he last put them.

His eyes found the blue haired woman lying on their bed, sweating as she fought the fever she came down with and he felt the hole in his stomach to get wider. According to Wendy, what should've been a simple case of flu, turned into pneumonia.

Wendy had been working with her for a couple of days already and she was getting better slowly.

The Ice Mage put a hand on Juvia's forehead and noticed that she seemed a little colder than before, but her temperature was still high.

Gray grabbed a pillow and just threw it on the floor next to the bed not at all bothered to grab a sleeping bag like the others were, by the opposing side of the house.

He looked at Juvia for another moment before lying on the floor and closing his eyes.

**#**

Gray woke up when he felt something touch his nose lightly and when he scratched his nose, he touched something and opened his eyes and after he blinked and his vision focused, he saw the familiar set of beautiful blue eyes.

Juvia was leaning over the bed, staring at him with a frown.

"You're… really here?" She whispered and all Gray could do was stare at her and she touched the tip of his nose once more. "Oh. You _are_ real."

"Yeah." He whispered, still staring at her azure eyes.

Juvia sighed in relief and disappeared from Gray's view as she returned to lie on the bed and he was fast to get up from the floor. The Water Mage had her hands covering her face and Gray saw that she wasn't sweating anymore.

"Juvia has been so worried." She whispered and Gray sat on the bed, facing her. "Are you okay?" Juvia still wasn't looking at him, her face still hidden.

"I am fine." Gray said, quietly. He noticed the soft light of morning coming in from the window. "Has your fever come down?"

"I think so." Juvia finally removed her hands from her face and Gray could see her drying some tears away before she also sat on the bed. She stared at him again and then touched his right cheek, where he the dark mark had been before. "Why didn't you come back home?" Juvia removed her hand and stared at him.

Gray hesitated, but couldn't deny her the answer, she deserved at least that. So, he told her everything about the plan Erza presented and his part in it. Juvia listened avidly and Gray didn't stop even when he heard the other occupants of the house start to move around, they were already speaking low enough and none of their friends walked close to them, knowing the conversation was serious.

Juvia only asked a few questions during the explanation and Gray tried to answer them the best he could. Once he was finished, they sat in silence for a few moments, staring at each other and Gray could see a bunch of emotions running through her eyes before she looked away.

"It's over now." She said, quietly. "Juvia is glad you are back." The blunette pushed the blanket away and managed to put her legs over the edge of the bed. Juvia took a deep breath and tried to get up, but felt lightheaded and Gray got up as well, supporting her weight. Juvia just pushed him away from her. He stared at her in confusion, but he didn't stop her when she went to the bathroom.

He waited for her trying not to care about the looks he was getting from the other females in the house. Erza, Lucy, Wendy and Charle were trying their best to hide their curiosity, but couldn't. Even Happy seemed more interested about it than Natsu was, as the dragon slayer was more focused in eating than everything else.

Juvia didn't stay very long inside the bathroom and when she came out, Gray was in front of her. "Juvia, I-"

"It's okay." She brushed him off. "Juvia is glad you are okay and that you are back."

Gray grabbed her by the wrist when she tried to pass by him. "No, something's still wrong. I know you, you-" Her snort made Gray stop talking. "What?"

"You know me."

"I do."

"Then you'd known what it would make me feel." Juvia snapped and Gray raised his eyebrows in surprise and the others stopped talking when they heard her.

Gray blinked two times and released her wrist. "I told you I had to-"

"You didn't _have_ to, you _chose_ to." Juvia said louder than she intended to, eyes dark with the implied accusation. The Ice Mage stayed still as she walked past him and went towards the door, following her a moment later.

The girls tried to go in the same direction as the couple, but Natsu stepped in front of them, making them stop. "Natsu!" Lucy said exasperated.

"Natsu-san, Juvia-san is sick and-" Wendy tried, but the Dragon Slayer just raised a hand so they could stop talking.

"And they know that. Look, I had to listen Lucy bitch –" the blonde gasped in outrage "you _did_ bitch about it, shut up" and then he repeated "– I had to listen Lucy bitch about me leaving and now Gray has to man up and listen to Juvia so he can understand that he was a dick, like I did. They both know she has been sick but they have to talk." Natsu crossed his arms on top of his chest. "Let them figure it out."

Wendy hesitated, but nodded and picked up Charle from the floor. Lucy smiled at Natsu even though she was angry about his comment while Erza nodded approvingly at the pink haired boy.

**#**

The moment Juvia left the house, she regretted it: the cold rain drops contrasting with her still warm skin wasn't the best combination. She couldn't come back, though. There were too many memories inside their house, and what Gray told her was making hard to breathe. She just wanted to go out and be alone.

"Juvia!" Gray called her, clearly exasperated. "Juvia, come back here, you are sick and it is raining!" He screamed, following her out and into the rain and when she didn't stop, he kept walking behind her. "Where are you going?"

"Out!" Juvia yelled without stopping.

"You are not even wearing shoes!" He yelled, getting closer and noticed that they were almost at the tree line. "Juvia!" When she didn't stop, Gray got annoyed. "You are not going to stop? Fine! _Ice Make: Wall_."

The blunette finally stopped when she met a big wall made of ice in her path and groaned in annoyance. Juvia was about to use her magic to knock it off when the she became light headed once again. Her vision had dark spots and her legs seemed to be made of jell-o, making her lean on the wall other than tear it down.

"Damn it, Juvia!" Gray swore and finally reached the Water Mage, helping her get straighter. "What the hell are you thinking?" The rain still fell around them and Gray was well aware that she was the one creating it. "You have been in bedrest for days; you are still weak!" Gray tried to pick her up, but she fought him off. "For god's sake, Juvia!"

"Juvia does not want to return!" She told him and Gray wanted to yell in frustration. Would his friends be mad at him if he knocked her out and then ask Wendy for some medicine that would make her sleepy until she was all better? Damn, Erza and Lucy would make his life hell if he did. Better just resolve things with Juvia.

"Fine, let's be in the woods, why not?" If she wanted to be out, the least he could do was to make sure she didn't get any more rain, so, using his magic once again, he created two walls and a roof to protect them. It wasn't a masterpiece, but it would serve its purposes. Juvia watched as he created their shelter and maybe she had finally stopped running. They kept staring at each other for a few moments before Gray shrugged off his coat and handed to her. "At least put this on. It's wet on the outside, but is warm inside. I can see through your shirt and I bet you don't want Natsu seeing it."

The blunette accepted it and Gray noticed she was shaking a little, but prevented himself of saying anything or she could go to the rain once again. He watched as she put the coat and realized that she was wearing a pair of small shorts she usually worn to sleep, just like her shirt – his coat reached under her knees – and shoeless.

He waited for her to talk, even if he wanted to say that they should go home so she could rest, but didn't.

"You didn't say you were sorry." Juvia whispered after they stayed in silence for some time.

"What?" Gray frowned. "Of course I did."

"You didn't even said you were sorry, just explained why you did what you did, but you didn't say you are sorry." Juvia stared at his eyes and the realization dawned her. "You are not sorry. You'd do it again."

Gray heard the accusation in her voice and it seemed it was all he needed to snap in annoyance. "Yes, I would. I was about to enter the darkest places of the country and meet the scumbags who worship _Zeref_. Remember Zeref? The guy from your nightmares? The guy who killed a man in front of you and left you unconscious? The man who even a year and a half later has you waking up by having a panic attack?"

"As if you don't have nightmares as well? Juvia witnessed them, Gray-sama! Zeref impacted your life more than impacted mine." The blunette said back at him and Gray's jaw got set with her words. "Yet, you went and Juvia didn't."

"Look, Erza said it would be better if you didn't know about it." Gray said. "One person was going to be hard enough to get in, two would've been even harder and those people were really dangerous."

The blunette looked offended. "Juvia is _not_ hopeless. Before you even thought of _pretending_ to be bad, Juvia _really_ was! She wasn't a member of Element Four because of nothing! People were actually afraid of me! Honestly, Juvia being back to the dark side would make more sense than _you_ suddenly turning bad." Gray hated to think it, but she was right. Juvia had a reputation back in the day they could've used. "But fine, you and Erza-san decided it would be you to go undercover and that's okay." The Ice Mage was about to sigh in relief when Juvia spoke again. "What it is _not_ okay is you leaving without saying a word and not even sending something so Juvia knew you were alive!"

"It wasn't supposed to take that long." Gray admitted. "And by the time I realize it was going to take longer than we intended, I was already in the inner circle and being closely watched. If I had sent you any messages, you could've been attacked o worse." He locked his eyes on hers. "I was trying to protect you."

Juvia shook her head. "You don't understand." She whispered, turning around from him. "After all this time you still don't understand."

"I thought I was making you safe."

"And you ended up hurting me more than if I had died during those months." Juvia snapped and Gray's gut twisted with the hurt in her voice. "For more than six months – _197 days_ – all that I could think of was that if you were alive or hurt. If you were being held somewhere against your will or…" The blunette dried a tear. "There were days Juvia waited for you, other days all she could do was cry because she was certain you were dead because that was the only explanation that made sense of why you hadn't return home.

"Do you know how many times Juvia wanted to go out to find you? How many times she almost did? But I couldn't. Do you know why?" All Gray could do was to stare at her. "Because the day Juvia left, it could be the day you were returning. 197 days of this uncertainty. Not one, not two: _one hundred and ninety seven_." Juvia said the numbers slowly and Gray felt worse than before. "While you were 'protecting' me, you were doing the exact opposite." Juvia bit her lower lip. "A few days after we found the house, you told Juvia that you were always afraid people would leave you. Why would do to someone the thing you are most afraid of?"

Gray blinked before answer her with a hoarse voice. "I never left you! I was always going to come back."

Juvia just shook her head. "Even if you were gone for just one day, it's still leaving. And you left me." Her voice broke at the end and the tears she was doing her best to hold back, finally fell as she sobbed.

Acting as pure instinct, Gray stepped closer to her and wrapped his arms around her small form. "I'm sorry." He whispered, holding her tight as she cried. "I'm so sorry. I never meant- It was never-" Gray's throat seemed to close. "I'm sorry, Juvia."

The blunette just sobbed more and finally hugged him back, hiding her face on his naked chest. "Juvia is so mad at you, but she's so relieved you are okay." She whispered.

"I deserve that you are mad at me." Gray told her, his hand caressing her blue hair and his chin resting on the top of her head. "Do you want to hit me? Hit me. I would feel better if you hit me."

Juvia snorted through her sobs. "Not _that_ mad." Gray felt slightly better by making her at least snort, but her words still echoed inside his mind and would for a long time. He hurt her in a way he didn't think it was possible. How could he hurt her so bad when he was trying to keep her safe? "Just so you know" Juvia's voice was barely a whisper "Juvia will most likely drive you crazy for a while if we need to get separated for anything."

Gray smiled and held her tighter. "The least I could do is to endure it the best I can."

The Water Mage looked up to him, eyes searching for something in his. "Just promise Juvia you won't leave again. Not without telling me."

That was a promise he could keep. "I promise you I will never again leave you _knowingly_."

Aware that it would be the best she could get from him, Juvia nodded lightly. Gray reached for her chin and lifted up enough so he could kiss her. He had missed it so much the feel of her body close to his, her smell, the little whimpers she made when they kissed, the taste of her lips.

Juvia put her hands on each side of his face when Gray deepened the kiss and his hands moved lower to her hips. He could feel the wetness of her cheeks and felt the guilt wash over him once again. When air became an issue, they stopped the kiss with a peck of the lips by Gray. A moment later, Juvia gasped.

"Oh no, Juvia will make you sick too!" She tried to push him away in panic, but Gray just shook his head.

"I don't care." She opened her mouth to talk again, but Gray was faster. "Juvia, it's fine. If I get sick, I get sick. Speaking of which," Gray picked her up bridal style, earning a shriek from the blunette "you are still wet from the rain. You need to take a hot shower, eat something and rest." He stepped out of under their ice-made shelter and noticed it wasn't raining anymore. Looking up, he could see the clouds dissipating and he looked down to Juvia, who snuggled onto him, evidently tired. She shrugged and rested her head on his shoulder and Gray couldn't help but to smile at the obvious sign she was feeling better.

Once again, he made the rain stop, even though he was the one who started it.

**#**

Once they returned home, the girls fussed over Juvia and immediately helped the blunette inside the bathroom for the hot bath Gray suggested and even though he missed having her in his arms, it was necessary.

Juvia looked over her shoulder and offered him a shy smile before the bathroom door close and Gray almost immediately smiled back at her.

Natsu stepped closer his friend, arms crossed above his chest and staring at the closed door as well. "Don't worry, they get mad at us but don't stay that way too long. Angry is easy to handle, hurt is the one that makes us feel like crap."

"Yeap." The Ice Mage agreed.

"So," the Dragon Slayer said "what did you find out in your conversation with Juvia?"

"That I'm an idiot and an egocentrically jerk who doesn't deserve her but is too egoist to let her go." Gray offered a one-shoulder shrug to the pink haired man. "So… nothing new."

Natsu slapped Gray on the back, grinning. "There you go! It wasn't too hard, was it?"

**#**

**AN:** I just needed some Angry!Juvia because I know she won't be at the manga _(please all the manga gods: let me be wrong this time)_ and I feel that she _**should**_ absolutely be mad at him.

I hope you enjoyed it!

04/20/2015 ~ **BonneyQ**


End file.
